Mitchell, Ulrich, and Shell File 'Motion To Strike' Business Wire
Lawsuit Under California's Anti-SLAPP Provision, and Launch the Webnode Legal Defense Fund
biz.yahoo.com
WESTPORT, Conn., June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Jeffrey S. Mitchell, William Ulrich, and Janice Shell, via their lawyer, Bruce Methven of Methven & Associates of Berkeley, California, recently filed a Special Motion to Strike Pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure Section 425.16 (aka the anti- SLAPP provision) against Business Wire, pursuant to Case No, C 99-1987 EDL. A complete copy of the Motion can be found at: webnode.com.
The defendants are ''members'' of Fly By Night Associates (FBN), a loosely affiliated group of people who consider themselves part of a much larger ''neighborhood watch'' on the Silicon Investor web site (http://www.techstocks.com). FBN is proud of the role they and a large
number of Silicon Investor members have played in helping identify unscrupulous promoters, promotions, and companies.
For the last three years, FBN and friends have used April 1, April Fools Day, to remind investors just how easy it is to be scammed. Last year, for example, the group created a web site for a fictitious company supposedly possessing the cure to the Year 2000 (Y2K) computer bug (http://www.magneticdiary.com/fbn).
This past April Fools Day, FBN decided to sell the Internet -- the state- of-the-art, fiber-optic based, Next Generation Internet -- node by node (http://www.webnode.com). In order to call attention to the fictitious entity called Webnode, FBN paid for and issued a press release over Business Wire. Using a technique known as ''ticker spamming'' (aka ''leeching'' in FBN parlance), a practice not forbidden by Business Wire, FBN was able to effect distribution of the
release on Yahoo under 20 different ticker symbols, including such companies as America On-Line, Amazon.com, and Microsoft.
The Webnode.com site was set up so that no one could actually send the fictitious company any money, and there was not even an address on the site to which people could have sent funds, nor was credit card information collected. Anyone who reached the contact person on the press release was informed the site was an April Fools project. On April 2, FBN changed the site by prominently placing text at the top saying, in part, ''This little button leads to the real truth about
Webnode!'' which, when pushed, led to a web page proclaiming ''April Fools'' in large lettering along with links relevant to FBN. In addition, all ''submit'' buttons for make-believe node and share reservations were disabled.
In the early afternoon of April 5th, Business Wire requested the Business Wire name and copy of the Webnode news release be deleted from the Webnode.com site. Business Wire's agreement states that the contact person, not Business Wire, has authority over copy distribution. However, in an effort to accommodate Business Wire, within a few hours the defendants had replaced the Business Wire byline with ''Bidness Wire''. On April 17, Business Wire formally requested the Bidness Wire byline be removed from the ''fictitious'' site as well, but conceded the text could stay. Later that night, the defendants made that change as well, and added a retraction to the Webnode site. On April 22, Business Wire formally complained to the FBI that Webnode.com was somehow now ''fraudulent'', and on April 26 they issued a press release saying they had filed suit.
The defendants believe that if press release providers like Business Wire are allowed to maintain lawsuits like the one filed against them, people like the defendants will be greatly hampered in trying to educate the public about Internet fraud by showing consumers how easily they may be taken in by a web site and a press release. The defendants contend they have engaged in legitimate free-speech activities and that Business Wire should not be allowed to retaliate against them via a lawsuit because it does not like the publicity surrounding the defendants' project or because the defendants have poked fun at it. The defendants are asking the complaint be stricken in its entirety and the defendants awarded their attorneys fees.
The Webnode Legal Defense Fund is currently in the process of filing with the State of Connecticut to be a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. Donations can always be sent directly to:
Webnode Legal Defense Fund
c/o Attorney Herbert Mendelsohn
110 Washington Avenue
North Haven, CT 06473
SOURCE: Webnode Legal Defense Fund
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